Staff members talk with visitors as they sit inside a Tesla Model S electric car on display at the Beijing International Automotive Exhibition in Beijing, Monday, April 25, 2016. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Staff members talk with visitors as they sit inside a Tesla Model S electric car on display at the Beijing International Automotive Exhibition in Beijing, Monday, April 25, 2016. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Photo: Mark Schiefelbein, Associated Press

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Tesla Motors on Tuesday unveiled the first changes to the body of its popular Model S electric sedan, which began production in 2012. The changes to the car's front make the Model S look more like the upcoming Model 3, scheduled to begin production late next year. less

Tesla Motors on Tuesday unveiled the first changes to the body of its popular Model S electric sedan, which began production in 2012. The changes to the car's front make the Model S look more like the upcoming ... more

Photo: David R. Baker, Tesla Motors

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Tesla Model S suspension failures under scrutiny by safety agency

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Tesla Motors, the electric-car maker, said Friday that the suspension system in its Model S luxury car has no safety defects that could have caused a string of breakdowns that have caught the eye of the nation’s top auto-safety regulator.

In a blog post, Tesla also acknowledged that it has asked customers to sign confidentiality agreements when it has agreed to fix faulty suspensions. But the company said the practice was intended to prevent legal disputes and not aimed at stopping owners from filing complaints with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

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The safety agency said Thursday that it had received 33 complaints since October about suspension system problems involving the Model S, Tesla’s biggest seller. It also said it became aware last month that in exchange for fixing some of the cars, Tesla had asked owners to agree in writing not to talk about the problem or how Tesla resolved it.

The agency called the practice “troublesome” and warned the company about agreements implying that customers should refrain from relaying safety concerns to regulators.

It said it had informed Tesla that any language implying that drivers should not contact the agency needs to be eliminated.

The safety regulator is examining the Model S suspension — the springs, joints and other components that connect a car to its wheels — for possible defects that could be causing premature failures.

The Palo Alto company said that one of its cars had an abnormal amount of rust on a suspension part, a problem it hasn’t seen in any other car.

Tesla said Friday that the Model S with the rust had more than 70,000 miles on it and was caked in dirt when picked up for service.

The company says it has given the safety agency all relevant information.

The battery-powered Model S has a starting price of about $70,000. Tesla has just started offering a sport utility vehicle, the Model X, and is planning to offer a compact car, the Model 3, next year.

The company hopes the Model 3 will become its top seller and says it has already received $1,000 deposits from about 375,000 potential buyers.

The suspension issue with the Model S is the latest sign of quality concerns. The Model X SUV was recalled earlier this year because of a problem with its rear seats.

Tesla’s first model, the two-seat Roadster, which was produced from 2008-11, also had its problems.

At Tesla’s annual shareholder meeting last month, CEO Elon Musk acknowledged that the Roadster had been plagued by a number of issues.

“This car, even though it met all regulatory requirements, it was completely unsafe, broke down all the time and really didn’t work,” Musk said.

Two years ago, the safety administration looked into two instances in which Model S cars caught fire. It determined that the fires were caused by road debris striking the vehicle’s underside, and closed the matter after Tesla agreed to reinforce the shield that protects the battery in the Model S.

In the case of the suspension, Tesla took care of repairs for some customers who complained to the company, on the condition that they agreed in writing not to talk about the issue or how Tesla dealt with it. The agreements, however, stirred up discussion on online bulletin boards.

Dailykanban.com, an auto industry blog, posted excerpts from what it said was an agreement. It said, in part: “You agree to keep confidential our provision of the Goodwill, the terms of this agreement and the incidents or claims leading or related to our provision of the Goodwill. “Goodwill” is the term Tesla used to refer to any repairs or compensation it made because of a suspension failure.

The agreement posted on the blog released Tesla from any liability and barred the car owners from filing legal proceedings against the company.

The company says it has asked customers to sign the Goodwill Agreement when it agrees to fix a problem that wasn’t the fault of the car. Those agreements make sure that repairing the car is not used against the company in court, Tesla said. The agreements do not mention the national safety agency, and do not try to stop customers from contacting the government, Tesla said.